Morning of Day 5

Every friday for the past two years, Chris and I have gone on a "Starbucks date." We get up early before work, go to the starbucks by our house, and sit and enjoy each other's company for a nice cup of sugary coffeish drink for him, a hot chocolate for me, and two cream cheese danishes. We are creatures of habit, and this tradition has been the highlight of both of our weeks for a long time. No matter how busy we are, what we are doing, where we are, we make time to have our Starbucks date (we even managed to find a Starbucks in Banff last friday).


Chris called this morning practically in tears because he realized it was Friday. He wanted to wish me a happy Starbucks date. I promised him I would keep up the tradition while he was gone (and eat his danish :) ) and he promised me he'd find some sort of coffee type item out on the route on Fridays. This morning he had a nice cup of coffee in Lincoln, MT and I am headed out the door to get our danishes and my hot chocolate from our Starbucks on my way to buy his new GPS. We may be a cheesy couple, but we've been basically happily glued to each other's sides for the past 7 1/2 years. We are cool with cheesy.

All in all, his mood perked up. Mornings are very hard for him (and it sounds like it's similar for Stephen -- they awkwardly laughed on the phone last night about how emotional they are -- haha). He's ready to ride, make it to Helena, and buy a new bike computer to get him through. He's hoping to push on to Basin (a little town that you can see if you zoom in the map a little -- it appears to be halfway between Helena and Butte). He knows it will be a long day, but he seems pumped and I'm sure will do great. He has really enjoyed having some company for the day and he said Stephen was happy to have someone to push up his pace a bit.

So here we are. Another day. Thank you SO much to everyone who sent me help on the GPS. I will try to load the tracks this morning and might be calling you if I need help. This community of bikers never fails to make me proud.

p.s. Good luck to the GDR racers who start today at noon in Rooseville, MT. They are doing the same sort of race, with a bit tighter rules and without the Canadian section. Extra good luck to some friends (Geoff and Fred -- as in Saint Fred from our Kokopelli trip, and Jen from England-- who we met in Banff and will be rigid single speeding the trail). I wish you all the best, and your wives/girlfriends/SOers at home. The first day is the hardest, it does get better.